Before Léotard invented the flying trapeze by a stroke of genius, vaulting exercises were restricted to the river jumping. Acrobats have now rejected with some contempt the two cords which held them prisoners by the wrists; to-day, they are masters of space.
This subject reminds me of the modern kings of the trapeze—the two brothers Volta.
THE HANLON-VOLTAS AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
These gymnasts belong to a good family. They were educated in England in one of those country colleges where [p261] English boys develop the lobes of their brains and the biceps of their arms at the same time. Thanks to this system, my two friends, although they are the kings of the fixed bar, can also read the Iliad in Greek with great facility.
They both worked in a bank, and in the evenings, after dinner, they practised gymnastics for their amusement in a public gymnasium. Naturally supple fine young men, they made wonderful progress. A “manager” who accidentally saw them perform, proposed making an engagement with them. They consulted each other. They laboriously earned 600l. per annum between them in the bank. Now the Barnum offered a salary of 160l. per month. [p262]
The brothers Volta closed their books, crossed the ocean with a somersault, and made their début in America. They joined a band which already possessed two flying trapezists and an iron arm, the Hanlons, the genuine pupils of the old Hanlon-Lees. The Voltas’ contributions to the entertainment was a very clever series of performances on the fixed bars. This completed the scale of vaulting exercises. The band could make the tour of the world in glorious style with the varied accomplishments of its members.
With the exception of the standing swing and the feet swing, all the exercises of the fixed bar can be performed on the trapeze. Some special swings are also risked, such as the passe ventre, which is executed by throwing one’s self over the trapeze. But the most popular of these exercises is the simple flight from one trapeze to the other, with a few yards’ interval to be crossed between them. This infatuation is explicable, for there is no doubt that this performance gives us the best opportunity of admiring as in apotheosis the beauty of the human form, and this is the reason why the idea of placing young girls upon the trapeze was so quickly grasped. With the advent of woman, passion and crime made their appearance in the serene atmosphere of the aerial realms; which, like the republic of Aristophanes’ Birds, extend beyond the reach of human perversity. You have all felt the anxiety which seizes the heart during the flight supported (voltige en porteurs), when one of these young girls hangs by the feet to her trapeze—hushes the music, and in the sudden silence calls to her companion—
“Are you ready?”